As many of us heard on Sunday in Emma's excellent preach, discipleship is learning to think, live and act like Jesus. A true disciple is one who doesn't give up when they fail because they know their identity is not in their performance; it is in their being in Christ; being a child of God. They learn from their mistakes. It is OK to fail because it is essential to be real in order to be transformed into His likeness. Our successes depend on God, not us. Without him we can do nothing. Yet with him nothing is impossible. An authentic disciple knows that when God works supernaturally through them, He gets the glory. They don't give up on expecting the signs and wonders Jesus has promised; the "greater works" he has prepared for us to do. They are not too busy with other things to miss their "burning bushes" that do not burn up; they move in to take a closer look and receive a fresh commissioning. They may echo the question Moses asked: "Who I am …?" Yet they become convinced by the truth of God's promise "I will be with you!" (Who could think they were insignificant knowing God was with them?) Everything is possible for the one who believes. They take risks and find their faith growing and being strengthened. Their lives make Jesus famous, because they have given up trying to impress others.

What then are the things that "hinder" us from running with perseverance the race marked out for us as individuals (Hb 12:1)? All the above for starters! Especially not being convinced of our true identity as children of God. And what is "the sin that so easily entangles" and threatens to trip us up? And why are the heroes of faith referred to as a great cloud of witnesses? F F Bruce writes: "By their loyalty and endurance they have borne witness to the possibilities of the life of faith." To which we could add the possibility of having one's weakness transformed into power and strength by the God who sees the potential we often remain blind to. As to "the sin that so easily entangles", Bruce writes: "Our author is not referring so much to some specific "besetting sin", but to sin itself as something which will inevitably trip us up at some point." We are all flawed human beings; works in progress. We are sinful and selfish. And our enemy is lightning-fast to point out every fault and failing. What to do? Not to give up! God understands. The Lord's Prayer includes a daily confession of sin so that he can continuously cleanse us from all unrighteousness. With Jesus as our sympathetic High Priest, our Intercessor and our Advocate let's press on into all God has for us no matter how imperfect we feel.